A FORTHGOING LORD OF STEEL

I remember when Grant gave me his son's black mage coat.  I remember being left alone with it and a bag of money he had gave me.  The ticking of the grandfather clock echoing through the walls of the home.

~

I step outside, leaving through the back door of the farmhouse.  I stop walking, covering my eyes and stopping from crying.  Wiping them with my palm, I then notice ahead of me both Holden and Liam having just finished packing a peach wagon.  No peaches.  Essentials, personal items.  They look at me as if they were already waiting.

Holden smiles and walks up to me.  He holds out his hand for a handshake.  "I'm glad to see that coat have some life in it again."  I know that I will forever feel indebted and thankful to this family.  I realize that Holden and I have never actually shook hands yet.  I reach out to meet his.  He grips it firmly and shakes once.  "I think Tia is right.  We can grow peaches somewhere else."

I can't help but disagree with his attitude.  I pull away from the handshake, letting my emotions do the talking.  "What are you saying?!  Even if you do make a new farm-- what's to stop them from doing this exact thing all over again?!  You told me yourself this farm has been here longer than the city has!  It's more than just a farm and a house-- it's your home with a long-earned legacy!!"

Holden maintains his smile.  "Well... what else can we do?"

Liam speaks up too.  "We have our lives.  It's enough.  We're just workers... who are we to stand against the Kingdom itself?"

I remember Tia's words.  Good people need saving from mean bastards.

My natural morality feels the flow of my meditation as I finally calm down.  I can feel my mind finding an answer, and my heart building the resolve around it.  My fear and frustration become replaced.  Pink sparks static around my being as the air around my body becomes charged with power.  I see all the beauty I have ever seen.  Not just in this world, but learning more of my father.  Family.

My fears and my frustrations are completely replaced with my determination to change this world.

~

Wearing the demonic-jester mask, I walk straight toward Steinar.  His fear grows as he points his sword at me.

~

"Holden."  I softly say his name as I look to him.  "I... want to save this place, but... I need to ask you of a dangerous favor."

~

I stop walking, Steinar yelling his questions at me.  I don't listen to him.

~

Holden seems curious.  "A favor?"  He smiles.  "Of course-- anything."

I hold my hand out to him for yet another handshake, but this one far different in purpose.  "I'll start weak, and heighten the voltage.  I need to find the right amount.  I need to test my powers..."

~

I put my hands together.  Forming the vibrant crackling pink arc of lightning between my fingertips as I pull my hands apart.  Steinar trembles at the mere sight.

~

Holden laughs and gives a large smile, more than willing to meet me on this life-threatening experiment.  He grips my hand even more tightly than before.  I focus my powers to their absolute smallest capabilities.

GGHZZT!!

In a sudden jolt, Holden convulses, but keeps standing.  Letting go for a moment, he comically waves his hand around.  "Wow!!  That was-- wow!!"

I was scared I actually hurt him.  "Are-- you okay?"

With intense bravery, and almost a sense of fun, Holden grips my hand again.  "But that's not enough to stop a man, is it?"

I can't help but almost have fun as well.  I focus on that one amount of power I just used, multiplying them by... let's not double it this soon.  I'll try 1.5 percent.

GGHHZZZTT!

This time, Holden falls to his side on the ground, comically squirming around from the unusual pain he is anything but used to.  Holden grunts and laughs at the same time.

Liam shows concern and shouts at us.  "What the hell are two doing?!  This is insane!"

Okay.  This might be enough information.  If I double the shock, it'll be enough to incapacitate Holden without killing him.  The enemy will be wearing one of two things-- metal plated armor, or leather.  Soldier-types likely have better physical strength and resilience than Holden.  Alright.  If they're wearing metal-armor, a natural conductor, I should go for 1.6 percent.  If they're wearing leather... I'll need a little more than double.

~

In a display of my power, Steinar stands at the mercy of my lightning.

Instead, unexpectedly, my electricity dissipates.  It practically vanishes.  "Eh?--"  Is all I could say.  The current got broken.  Were my hands too far apart?

Steinar sees his only moment and takes it.  He lunges forward with his psychotic smile and thrusts his sword, straight for my chest.  What do I do?!  Maybe I can deflect it like I did the arrow?!  If I do that, I'll be forced to kill him--

As if from the heavens above, silver-steel bars spear straight down, forming a cage around Steinar.  With a closed cover on top, a heavy-steel-plated black and grey armored man stands on it.  The bars barely missed Steinar's own hand, which otherwise may have severed it completely.  He doesn't know how lucky he is.  The tip of his sword less than a foot away from my chest.

Even with the cage-top at a lower height than me, forcing Steinar in a lower hunched position, he still holds his glaring eyes on me.  "Too bad.  Your lightning plus my metal sword... I really was gonna kill both of us."

I can clearly see him for what he is.  Little more than a clever wild animal in a cage.

The armored man jumps off the top, his foot landing on Steinar's sword, forcing it and him down to the ground, pinning his hand between the handle and the ground.  Steinar yells in the pain, but is then comically hit in the head by the armored-man's boot heel, knocking him out-cold.

Now, I stand before a highly capable warrior.  He fully stands, staring at me.  He is freakishly tall-- definitely seven feet.  Ally or enemy?  Maybe, ally?  He did sort of saved me just now, and put this guy in a cage.  I didn't even know he was here until he pulled this trick.

Grant yells from the balcony at the armored man.  "Cutting it damn close, ya crazy idiot!!  Where in the hell have you been all this time?!  You said you were doing a little travelling and buggered off!!  What is the matter with you?!"

I turn back to face the armored man.  He pulls off his helmet, revealing a manly head, charismatic smile, and a strong mustache.  Wait-- have I seen him somewhere before?  I slightly tilt my head at him.  He drops his smile for a moment, tilting his head at me.

"Wait, who are you?"  We both ask each other at the same time.

I remember one of the hand-drawn portraits of the Rhoads family members on the wall.  I quickly take off my mask.  "Wait-- are you Grant's Grandfather?!?!"